Kevin Duffy: To this point, UConn women stack up well in history

Updated 11:34 pm, Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Greatness cannot be truly measured until the eighth of April, when the 2014 national champion will be crowned sometime around 11 p.m. in Nashville.

Or, if UConn is involved, it could be over by 9:40. Because thus far, that's how most games have gone for the top-ranked Huskies, a group that is outscoring opponents by an average of 28-13 over the final 10 minutes of the first half. It's a group that began the season as the favorite and enters the New Year unchallenged after steamrolling the nation's toughest non-conference schedule.

The Huskies have the best player in the country (and they'll have Breanna for two more years). They have the best shooter. They have an All-American guard and a center who just might be the team's best passer.

They obliterated the No. 2 team in the country on its home court and wiped the floor with four other ranked opponents. For about a month, they did it with seven scholarship players. It's truly amazing, even by the standards of a program that is 226-13 over the past six and a half seasons.

But has it been the most amazing start in the history of the sport?

Outrageous as that sounds, it's a legitimate question. Consider: Aside from a 43-38 halftime advantage over Maryland, the Huskies have led, on average, 49-22 at the intermission. Incredible.

No, greatness can't be fully measured until April, but surely it's reasonable to compare the numbers from UConn's prolific beginning to the beginnings of past great teams.

Here's how this UConn squad, unquestionably chasing the attainable goal of perfection, stacks up against history.

TOUGHEST SCHEDULES

2013-14 UConn: These Huskies have defeated five ranked teams, currently Nos. 3, 4, 8, 15 and 23, by an average score of 76-54. To date, the Huskies "closest" win was a 17-point victory over Stanford.

2001-02 UConn: Six of UConn's early out-of-conference wins came against opponents that finished in the top 25. Four of them -- Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Old Dominion -- finished in the top seven. None of those games were remotely close.

1994-95 Tennessee: The Lady Vols traditionally played a difficult schedule, but this one was particularly brutal. Ranked No. 1 in December, they defeated No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Louisiana Tech (twice), No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Colorado and No. 9 Vanderbilt. Finally, in mid-January, they lost to No. 2 UConn, which went unbeaten and captured its first national title.

1985-86 Texas: The first undefeated team in NCAA women's basketball history, Texas defeated No. 10 Ohio State, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 4 USC, No. 8 Ole Miss and Louisiana-Monroe twice (the Warhawks were ranked No. 3 in the first game and No. 7 in the second). Although the Longhorns won all six, but there were no true blowouts.

2007-08 Tennessee: The Volunteers lost a game early (they'd later avenge the defeat to Stanford in the national championship game), but they played nine NCAA tournament teams in their 12 non-league games. Eight were ranked in the top 25 at the time.

2011-12 Baylor: Look at it like this -- UCLA was a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Bruins were 33-point losers in Waco. The Lady Bears also knocked off second-ranked Notre Dame, No. 7 Tennessee and No. 2 UConn by an average score of 79-70.

LOPSIDED WINS

2013-14 UConn: The 49-22 halftime lead is absurd. So is average 86-48 victory.

2009-10 UConn: Get this. The Huskies played 11 non-league games before the New Year. In six of those games, they had more points at halftime than their opponent had by the night's end. Ouch.

2008-09 UConn: In its first 10 games, which included only one ranked opponent, your average score was 92-57.

1997-98 Tennessee: The unbeaten Vols would eventually win a game by single digits, but it wasn't against non-league competition. They handled all ranked non-conference opponents, and also posted an early 50-point win, two 40-point victories and a 34-point beatdown of Texas.

1994-95 UConn: N.C. State made the Sweet Sixteen that year. They lost 98-75 in Hartford. No team was embarrassed worse than Cal, which suffered a 99-52 defeat.

The Golden Bears, fresh off their first Final Four in program history, had the fortune of drawing the 2013-14 Huskies this past Sunday. The game became a back-and-forth battle between Breanna Stewart and Cal's entire team.

The Golden Bears led Stewart 30-29 when Geno Auriemma pulled his All-American forward for good. Facing its fifth ranked opponent in less than two months, UConn would coast to an 80-47 win.